Sheriff’s deputies arrest eight in spate of drunken driving stops

From Newstead to Springville, Erie County sheriff’s deputies arrested eight people overnight on drunken driving charges, bringing the department’s total to 188 this year, authorities said.

The most serious arrests involved:

Mark T. Jones, of Buffalo, who was taken into custody about 7:30 p.m. Friday, after deputies responded to a call reporting a vehicle traveling recklessly on Main Road in Akron, according to deputies.

He was charged with felony DWI because of a prior conviction and refused to submit to a sobriety test, officials said.

Jones and a passenger, Nicholas J. Church, 27, of Rocky Point, were also charged with possession of heroin and marijuana, deputies said.

At about 1 a.m. Saturday, deputies investigated a two-car crash at Route 219 and Route 39 in Springville, and arrested Carla A. Infantino, 30, of Niagara Falls, on charges of DWI and failure to yield at a stop sign. A breath test showed Infantino’s blood alcohol level was 0.12, authorities said.

The occupant of the other vehicle involved in the Springville crash did not appear to have life-threatening injuries and was taken to Bertrand Chaffee Hospital, according to deputies.

Also at about 1 a.m., Philip D. Burke, 26, of Buffalo, was arrested in Alden after he was stopped for driving through a stoplight on Broadway, police said. He was charged with felony aggravated unlicensed operation and with felony DWI because of a previous DWI conviction, deputies said. Burke refused to submit to a breath test, according to officials.

At about 2:30 a.m., deputies arrested Kirk J. Zinermon, 44, of Tonawanda, and charged him with DWI, trespassing, unlicensed operation, failure to yield to an emergency vehicle and failure to take a breath-screening test after he was stopped in Ellicott Creek Park in Tonawanda after hours, officials said.

Other arrests were made in Marilla and Clarence, including one involving an 18-year-old driver.